


Drunk Carolling?!

by Kattwyllie



Category: SVU
Genre: Alcohol, Christmas, Explicit Language, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattwyllie/pseuds/Kattwyllie
Relationships: rafael barba x reader - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Drunk Carolling?!

Rafael sat in his apartment, half full glass of scotch and an empty take out container sitting in front of him on the coffee table. The t.v was playing some absolutely ridiculously stupid Christmas movie he couldn’t seem to escape from no matter what channel he landed on. 

Fuck he hated the holidays. 

The city was cold and windy, packed full of tourists who had no clue where they were going or how to get there, harassing the obvious locals for answers. He’d have to suffer through a company Christmas party at not only the D.A’s office but likely be roped into coming to the SVU one as well by Olivia. Everyone always had their plus one, someone who was usually only mentioned but now it was confirmed that they did actually exist, and were very much in love. Young couples frolicked through the city displaying far too much P.D.A for anyone’s liking. 

It all just enunciated the fact that he was still alone, not even just romantically but family wise things were getting pretty slim too. It just seemed like it was the time of year to be joyful and thankful, exuding warmth and love when it really it was one of the most stressful times of the year. Case loads went through the roof as the weather got colder, families were stuck at home more, out of town visitors causing more rising more tensions, and too drunk party go-ers ending up in not so hot situations. It was always so much easier to escape off to some lavish ski resort or disappear to an adults only all exclusive resort in the Bahamas, but his Mami had made him promise he would spend Christmas Day with her this year, and he couldn’t refuse.

He sighed heavily as there was a loud outburst of laughing from across the hall, turning the volume on the t.v up a few levels as he began to flick through the channels again. Truthfully, his neighbour (..Cindy? Cassy? God if he could remember) had come knocking on his door earlier that week to warn that she was having some old friends over on Friday. It was more out of respect for the other tenants, giving them fair warning and letting them know no one would be offended if anyone came by to tell them to keep it down, she’d also presented him with some homemade cookies as a pre-apology bribe.

The least he could do was give them the benefit of the doubt, at least wait until it was closer to midnight to complain. It was Friday night, it was the Holidays, he would do what he could to not be a Scrooge and ruin other people’s fun…even if that’s exactly what he wanted to do.

About an hour later the noise got louder as the soft music, excited talking and laughing morphed into what sounded like a home karaoke machine, pop and rock versions of Christmas carols echoing through the apartment alongside the voices of tipsy over exited women. Rolling his eyes he poured another glass of scotch, they weren’t honestly that loud, and it _did_ sound like they were having a great time..at least someone was. He opted to take the time to finally change out of his work clothes, soaking in a steaming shower before throwing on some more upscale loungewear. He organized a few things in the apartment, tossing in a load of laundry from the week, setting aside the dry cleaning to take in over the weekend. 

Essentially, he was killing time until he deemed it was late enough he could play the bad guy. He’d noticed the volume of the karaoke seemed to have been turned up, and it was just passing eleven. Pocketing his phone quickly he unlocked his door, leaving it open considering he was going all of two feet, knocking hopefully loud enough on the offending apartment’s door. He heard a pattering of stilettos on the hardwood before the door flung open, and the view on the other side…certainly wasn’t what he expected.

“Barba?” Your head tilted in confusement, the wide smile dropping from your cheeks. He could barely help but gape, scrambling over words in his brain. You were in a silver sequinned dress that barely met your mid thigh, he would say it made up for that by having long sleeves but the neck showed off much more cleavage than he’d ever seen on you.

“Whitlow?” Your name was barely out of his mouth when one of your friends, who seemed to be much more worse off half stumbled up, shooting him a glare.

“Where’s the pizza? Wait…why is he calling you by your last name? Oh my GOD! Is he one of your cop friends? Did you get a cop stripper for us?!”

“OH my _GOD_ Ashley!” You clamped a hand around her mouth, shoving her out of the doorframe, shouting something about switching to water right as the girl he recognized as the actual apartment tenant trotted up.

“Oh shit…” She whined, “you’re here to tell us we’re being too loud aren’t you?”

“Nah, Claire, he’s not a cop, he’s a lawyer.”

“Wait you know him?”

“Yeah we work together.”

“He lives across the hall.” She gestured and you noticed the open door, there was suddenly a gleam in your eyes and the multiple glasses of champagne you’d drunk became more apparent to Rafael, the shock of him showing up wearing off.

“I..uh was going to ask if maybe-“ You cut him off with a playful whack to the chest.

“Don’t be a Scrooge! You can’t tell me you don’t have an open bottle of scotch you’re indulging in right now Counsellor.” Despite the being tipsy, and the heels, you were across the hall and into his apartment before he even realized it. “Were you seriously watching The Grinch?” You called back to him, a laugh evident on your face.

“Detective..” He gave you the best warning glare he could but before he could even process what was going on you’d scooped up the bottle of scotch and his keys from the counter, swiftly locking his door and dragging him into Claire’s apartment. Your voice was quieter as you replied to him, 

“It’s Christmas…and you’re staring at my tits…I think it’s fine if you call me y/n.” You shot him a wink before grabbing a glass for his drink.

He had to admit it, it honestly wasn’t as horrible as he’d originally thought, though most of the guests seemed to be girlfriends of yours and Claire’s, there were a handful of partners scattered around the room. You stuck by his side for the first little bit, intoducting him to a slew of them, a list of names he’d never remember. He felt his negative attitude slipping away as he indulged in a few drinks, exchanging stories with people that were so far from the legal world it was finally helping him escape from the work he was constantly buried in. Rafael watched as a girlfriend dragged you off back towards the karaoke machine and the two of you did your best rendition of Run Run Rudolph, dancing and shimmying your way through the entire song.

It was so incredibly different than the you he saw at work all the time, not only physically, but you were always so focussed, so determined, a hard wall up as you dealt with cases. But tonight, you sparkled as much as your dress did. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was the holiday, or being surrounded by not a single member of NYPD, but the smile on your cheeks actually reached your eyes, your laugh vibrated through the room like the voice of a fucking songbird. 

He couldn’t help but return the smile you gave him as you swiped a fresh drink from the kitchen, making your way over to where he was on the couch. To his surprise you softly kicked off your stilettos and plopped right down into his lap facing sideways, an arm braced on the back of the couch, just daring to wrap around his shoulders as your legs pulled up criss cross as close as they could to being underneath you. He felt his breath hitch as the movement made your dress ride even further up your legs and tried to steer his brain away from the thought of what you had on underneath it..if anything.

“You always do this Christmas karaoke?” He teased.

“Uhm…this is drunk caroling!” You shot back.

“That is…not a thing.” You gestured wildly to the room in front of you, 

“Uh…it _clearly_ is!” He laughed softly as you both took swigs of your drinks. “Can I tell you a secret?” You asked, turning your face to him, he chuckled lightly.

“Even if I say no I feel you’re going to tell me anyway.” You rolled your eyes, pinching at his shoulder with the arm on the couch before leaning in to his ear.

“I’m kinda drunk…” He laughed at that,

“That doesn’t surprise me.” He smirked, his face softly smiling at the distraction across the room that caught your attention, letting him take in your warm smile, the reflection of the lights in your gleaming eyes. Without even realizing it, his free arm wrapped around your hips, making sure to keep you steady, his thumb stroking at your hip softly.

“You weren’t really gonna call the cops on us, were you?” You turned back to him, suddenly very serious, but your words more excited and less enunciated than normal.

“No.” He laughed, “the plan was just to get the volume turned down a couple of notches.”

“Good.” You smirked, “‘cause this is the 2-5 district and those boys love me, I could flirt my way out of it.”

“Believe me…looking like that you could flirt your way out of a murder indictment.” The barely evident growl in his voice brought your eyes to his, there was a brief moment where the urge to instantly straddle him and kiss him breathlessly took over, but you were interrupted by Claire bringing over a round of Jell-O shots. 

Naturally Rafael tried to refuse, but your insistence that ‘ _it’s Christmas!_ ’ won him over. Besides, how was he exactly supposed to say no when you were practically bouncing in his lap, your chest heaving directly in his eye line. The next round was tequila that you shuddered at as you swallowed, internally thankful Claire hadn’t decided to involve licking salt off someone else like she would have eight years ago. You may have been drunk, and in his lap, but the thought of Rafael’s tongue in your clevage wasn’t one you could quite handle right now. 

“How do you know these girls again?” Barba asked, washing down the tequila with a gulp of scotch.

“Sorority sisters from college.” Your voice was slightly hoarsened from the shot, your words beginning to slur more than before.

“You were in a sorority?” He teased, pinching at your thigh.

“It was a long time ago!” You countered, “besides..” your head dropped into his shoulder, practically nuzzling into it briefly, “it’s nice to hangout with people who aren’t involved in the legal system once in a while.” Before he’d even began to adjust to the more than welcome feeling of you snuggled against him your head shot up in a burst of laughter and cheers as four of your friends began to reenact the Jingle Bell Rock scene from Mean Girls.

The party started to die down shortly after midnight, the karaoke replaced by a very soft playlist of music while the small amount of people were in smaller circles of conversation. You and Rafael somehow only had eyes for each other, delving into parts of each other’s lives you never would have heard if it hadn’t been for this run in. He saw the gleam in your eye, the way your hand softly cupped his cheek, thumb trailing over his lips, waiting for the ever so slight nod of approval before you ducked your head to his. The kiss began soft, but the alcohol was quick to take over, your tongue delving into his mouth, moaning over the smoky taste of the scotch, his hand tighter over your hip in attempt to tug you closer to him. Part of him felt like he should be ashamed, making out with someone on the couch of somebody he’d just met, feeling like he was back in high school. But the other part of him could barely wrap his brain around the fact that he was actually kissing you, that you initiated it, that you wanted to kiss him. A small giggle escaped your lips when you departed, your foreheads staying together briefly, a chaste kiss shared before a shout through the room caused you to jump apart.

**  
You scrunched your eyes before you even opened them, the pounding in your head already evident before you even had to deal with the sunlight. Fucking Claire. As much as you loved her holiday parties, you always forgot they could all still go hard like you were barely 22, and you rarely drank more than a glass or two of wine. 

The bed you were in felt miles more comfortable than you were used to, the heavy duvet wrapped tightly around you. You peaked one eye open, you were facing a bedside table, it appeared your phone was plugged in. Okay, you’d at least remembered that. Grabbing it you scrolled through notifications, there was nothing important, so you pushed up to sitting, grumbling at the spinning in your head. It was then that your brows furrowed in confusion. The bedroom layout was exactly like Claire’s, but opposite, and impeccably organized and clean. You groaned at the fact that you were still in your sequinned dress, Claire may have given you the guest room, but no pyjamas? She better have gotten some good dick last night to make up for it, you thought.

You found an new toothbrush in the en suite, thankful to brush your teeth, splashing some water on your face as you did you best to fix the remnants of makeup on your face, tugging your false lashes off, sticking them to the back of your phone. 

Padding out to the main area of the apartment you were convinced you must still be drunk, it felt like you were in Claire’s apartment, but everything was backwards. The layout was the same but little details… you weren’t awake enough to notice were different. You were surprised she was able to clean the place up this much quickly, not even noticing the lack of a Christmas tree in the living room. You knew you needed water, opening a couple of cupboards, finding only plates and bowls, moving through the kitchen until you found one with cups. You briefly heard the door opening, but the voice echoing through the room was _certainly_ not the one you expected.

“Glad to see you’re alive.” The A.D.A teased, a smirk on his face as he placed a bag and coffee tray on the kitchen island. You jumped, nearly dropping the glass in your hand before shutting the cupboard.

“Barba?!” Suddenly the very blurry events of the late part of last night came flying back to you, “Oh…fuck…”

“Hey..don’t neglect that water. I needed more than normal when I got up. Your friends are ruthless.” You gave an awkward laugh, filling up the glass before moving to the opposite side of the kitchen island.

“Thank you. I-uh…sorry? Thank you?” You stumbled over words, “You..really didn’t have to come hangout last night. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” He tossed a breakfast sandwich across to you, “We were both pretty drunk last night. If you wanna indulge more, that’s fine. If you wanna pretend it never happened, that’s more than fine.” You gave him a weak smile as you unwrapped the food, taking a small bite. “What I don’t want is for you to show up drunk at my door a year from now when Claire’s fed you too many Jell-O shots begging me to fuck you.” You nearly choked on your food, taking a sip of water as the flush took over your neck and face, hating that you felt so vulnerable.

“Did we…?!”

“No!” Rafael quickly shot back, “Though you pouted like a petulant toddler until I agreed to your oh so important Christmas Cuddles.”

“Oh my god…” you buried your face into your hands, tears of embarrassment burning into your eyes, “I’m _so sorry_ Barba. I should’ve known better than dragging you into that party.” Seeing the tears in your eyes, the way you avoided his gaze he moved his way around the island slowly.

“Hey…” his hand softly grasped your arm, “you have nothing to be sorry about, I was just as responsible as you. You may have kissed me, but I kissed you back. And I would do it again.” Your eyes shot up to his at that, your breath catching in your throat.

“I-really?”

“In a heart beat.” He waited for your eyes to dart to his lips before ever so lightly kissing your lips, loving the way he could feel the smile of your lips against his. You giggled softly, the warm feeling of his arms around you ever so welcome. “Now…how about you finish breakfast. I’ll lay some comfier clothes out for you and you can shower. I felt a world better after one, and..” he sighed heavily, “if you didn’t have plans today, we can watch some stupid Christmas movies.” You outwardly laughed at that,

“My only plans for today were to be hungover as fuck and watch as many horror movies as possible.”

“Horror?” He quirked a brow.

“Yeah…Christmas is overrated.” You pecked him gently, “Thank you…”

“For what?”

“Making sure I didn’t get murdered last night?” You countered, taking another bite of your breakfast.

“I may have had some unwell intentions..but I’m not one to take advantage. I wanted you to be safe.”

“Well…if every guy out there was like you I guess neither of us would have jobs.” He laughed slightly. You groaned as you jumped off the stool, “Shower?”

“Bedroom, right side.”

“Thank you.” You kissed his cheek softly, following him down the hall as he tugged out some comfy spare clothes for you.

If you had been surprised when Rafael had popped up in Claire’s doorway the night before you were even more surprised that he was not only letting you shower, but laying clothes out for you. When you padded your way out to the living room, he had a Gatorade waiting for you, Netlflix pulled up to the scary movie section, letting you choose the first one. You were even more surprised at the way he threw an arm around the back of the couch, encouraging you to curl up against his frame. You knew there had been some flirtation…and a very hot kiss…exchanged the night before, but you’d thought they were strictly booze fueled only to never be spoken of again. 

As it turned out, as the day went on the two of you ended up buried deeper into each other’s arms, the occasional jump scare having you hiding your face in his shoulder despite seeing the movie a million times. Since Rafael had bought your late breakfast, you were the one that ordered dinner in, any awkwardness of the previous night fading away as you tucked into some Chinese. A few beers in to try to hit the hair of the dog to help both of your hangovers had you easily laughing over everything. 

By the end of the evening, you knew you had to head home, as much as you wanted to cuddle up with him again, you needed your own apartment. You flushed at the way he walked you to the door, reassuring you to keep the clothes as long as you needed. You flushed even harder when he asked if he could take you to dinner the following week, giggling and avoiding his gaze before his hand cupped your cheek. Your breath hitched out a yes before his lips met yours softly, a smile evident against them. He asked for you to text him once you got home and watched you until the elevator doors shut.

It was safe to say that this year..you both certainly had gotten your Christmas wish.


End file.
